Former city workers admit to embezzling more than $500K

Published: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at 05:43 PM.

Hoyle pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of federal program fraud for embezzling approximately $92,922 from the city of Cherryville.

According to court documents, Hoyle embezzled the money by keeping cash payments made by customers.

Hoyle would accept cash payments from customers and issue paper receipts. She would credit the customers’ accounts with the payment, keep the cash, and then, by using her supervisory override privileges, go in the computer system and delete the transaction.

Court records also show that in order to avoid any potential customer complaints, Hoyle would create entries in the “extra charge” journal in which she would “write off” the cash amount the customers paid so that bills containing the embezzled amount would not be issued.

Hoyle used these tactics to take money from the city from January 2008 through May 2011 when she was fired by former City Manager David Hodgkins.

According to the bill of information, Hoyle’s fraud was uncovered when a customer questioned the duplicate charges on her bill and brought in her paper receipt as proof of payment.

The federal charges against the women add to previous arrests made in October when federal agents served indictments against six Cherryville men involved in a crime ring. Four of the six had ties to law enforcement, and all but one has since pleaded guilty.

Alexander’s activity

According to court documents, Alexander embezzled at least $435,294 from August 2005 to December 2011.

Court documents show Alexander made weekly payroll payments to herself, which were more than 300 percent of her authorized net pay. In total, Alexander embezzled about $309,594 from the city in this manner.

Alexander also used city funds to pay for personal expenses, including shopping and traveling. She issued city checks to pay on her personal American Express credit card.

Alexander issued the city checks by forging the signature of another Cherryville employee who was authorized on the account. To avoid detection, Alexander would remove the cleared checks from the city’s records.

She issued and forged a total of 26 city checks for a total of approximately $97,000 to pay off personal charges on her American Express card.

Alexander’s activity ceased when she retired without notice in December 2011.

Hoyle's activity

Hoyle pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of federal program fraud for embezzling approximately $92,922 from the city of Cherryville.

According to court documents, Hoyle embezzled the money by keeping cash payments made by customers.

Hoyle would accept cash payments from customers and issue paper receipts. She would credit the customers’ accounts with the payment, keep the cash, and then, by using her supervisory override privileges, go in the computer system and delete the transaction.

Court records also show that in order to avoid any potential customer complaints, Hoyle would create entries in the “extra charge” journal in which she would “write off” the cash amount the customers paid so that bills containing the embezzled amount would not be issued.

Hoyle used these tactics to take money from the city from January 2008 through May 2011 when she was fired by former City Manager David Hodgkins.

According to the bill of information, Hoyle’s fraud was uncovered when a customer questioned the duplicate charges on her bill and brought in her paper receipt as proof of payment.

Mark Hoyle was one of six Cherryville men charged in federal court for transporting stolen goods and extorting money.

Federal sentencing

Both women accepted plea agreements in federal court Tuesday morning.

Sentencing in federal cases is done at a later hearing.

Alexander, 58, of Cherryville, is charged with five counts of program embezzlement. She has agreed to plead guilty to the charges and faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine per count.

Hoyle, 34, also of Cherryville, agreed to plead guilty to three counts of program fraud. She faces a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine per count.

Both women’s arrests were a result of an investigation by the Gaston County Police Department, the FBI and the State Bureau of Investigation.

Hoyle was previously charged with 10 counts of embezzlement in a case being held in Gaston County Superior Court. That matter hasn’t yet made it to trial.

Whether or not to proceed with those charges is up to District Attorney Locke Bell.

Bell, who was working a trial Tuesday, was not immediately available for comment.